Iconic British fashion and homeware brand bought by US company after it went bust four years ago
A POPULAR British clothing and homeware brand has been sold after collapsing into administration after 67 years.
Marquee Brands, the American owner of Ben Sherman, has snapped up Laura Ashley for an undisclosed amount.
The US group bought the fashion and furnishings business from investment firm Gordon Brothers.
Marquee Brands said it is excited to “drive expansion” of Laura Ashley with plans for new products and collaborations.
Heath Golden, chief executive officer of Marquee Brands, said: “We are excited to harness the strong affinity for this iconic brand and drive expansion across new platforms and partnerships.
“With the existing UK team in place, we are primed and ready to leverage Laura Ashley’s seven-decade legacy to unlock its future potential as a full lifestyle brand innovating new products and categories, offering unique collaborations and engaging multi-generational audiences in key markets worldwide.”
Laura Ashley was founded in 1953 and quickly developed into an international retail chain.
The company made its name with iconic floral prints, elegant home furnishing and quality women’s clothing.
The deal comes nearly five years after Laura Ashley fell into administration in 2020.
The company blamed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic for tipping it over the edge.
As a result, the retailer was forced to close 70 stores and axe more than 300 jobs.
A year later the company reappeared on the UK high street through a partnership with Next to sell its homeware and furnishings.
Laura Ashley products were then available in more than 500 Next stores in the UK and through its website.
Laura Ashley will retain some of its UK-based team as part of the deal.
The acquisition will allow Marquee Brands to expand further and give the group a European headquarters in London for the first time.
The organisation owns 17 brands including Totes, Martha Stewart and Ben Sherman.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
Tobias Nanda, Gordon Brothers head of brand, said: “We acquired the British heritage brand out of insolvency in 2020 and built a flexible, scalable licensing business and a global e-commerce presence over the last four years.
“We could not be prouder of Laura Ashley’s growth under Carolyn D’Angelo’s leadership, the former president of Laura Ashley, and know the brand is in the right hands for continued global growth under Marquee Brands’ leadership.”
Other firms that have filed for bankruptcy or administration
Laura Ashley is not the only firm to file for administration or go bankrupt in recent years.
Iconic British tea company Typhoo fell into administration in November after 120 years of trading.
It was then bought by vapes and drinks manufacturer Supreme in a £10million rescue deal.
Homebase also tumbled into administration in November.
The Range later stepped in to buy 70 locations which will reopen next year as branches of the company.
Meanwhile, Carpetright entered administration on July 22.
It was bought in a rescue deal by rival Tapi, which shut the majority of its stores and cut 1,018 jobs.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories